A Changed Man
by ioanhoratio
Summary: Danny and Lindsay run into one of Danny's ex-girlfriends. I know it's been done but maybe this one is different enough.


**A Changed Man**

**By: ioanhoratio**

**A/N I know there are a lot of stories of Danny and Lindsay running into one of his ex-girlfriends (and I love them!) but I wanted to try it and maybe take a little different approach. This really is just a fluffy little one-shot-most because I am so excited about the finale I just had to write something! LOL!-although this story has nothing to do with the finale. It is just a goofy story. I hope you enjoy!**

"Danny? Danny Messer?"

Danny whipped his head up to look around the lobby of the crowded restaurant. After a moment, his eyes fell on a woman who was making her way towards him. He squinted his eyes as he focused on her face and then raised his eyebrows as her image cleared. Her dark black hair and bright green eyes were still as distinct as when they were in high school.

"Tarah Kimball? Get outta hear," he called to her happily.

As soon as she reached him she didn't hesitate to pull him into a tight hug. She pulled back and gave his arm a friendly squeeze and gushed, "I thought that was you I saw. Imagine runnin' into you here. What's it been? Ten years?"

Danny nodded his head with a slight frown on his face as he considered her words then agreed, "Wow, yeah, I guess it has been that long."

"I can't believe it. You're lookin' good," she smiled at him.

"Thanks. You too," he said and wasn't lying. Her once frizzy hair was now sleek and long. Her clothes were stylishly cut and sat well against her curved body and tiny waist.

"Well a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right?" She teased then her voice grew quiet, "I heard...I heard about the shooting on the news. Last I heard you were in a wheelchair."

Danny bounced up onto the balls of his feet and back down. "Yeah, that was a little while back. The paralysis wasn't permanent and with surgery and a lot of physically therapy I got through it. And did I hear right that you're workin' with ya sista?" Danny asked changing the subject.

"I see our mom's are still in contact," Tarah laughed but answered, "Yeah, Audra and I have a wedding planning business. Seems to be doin' a'right."

"Good, that's good," Danny said, "How is you're ma doin'?"

"She's a'right. You know here, ain't happy unless there's somethin' to complain about. She won't shut up about my brother's kid and keeps hintin' at me and Audra to stop planning other women's weddings and start planning our own."

Danny laughed at the memory of Mrs. Kimball and her less than subtle hinting methods.

"I see you remember how tactful my mother isn't," Tarah laughed along, "So, you headin' in to eat or...?"

"Oh, no, we just finished," Danny interrupted, then offered shyly, "I um...I'm waitin' for my wife and daughter."

Tarah's eyes grew large and her smile spread as she squealed, "So the rumors are true. You got married!"

Danny nodded energetically, and returned her smile.

Her face grew somber and she wagged a finger in his face, "I don't remember gettin' an invitation to the wedding."

Danny blushed, "Oh...ah...no one got an invitation. We sorta eloped."

Tarah could help the giggle that escaped, "I bet your mom was thrilled about that. Whadya do? Get this girl knocked up and ta keep her dad from comin' after you, married her?"

Danny's smile slipped slightly. He knew Tarah wasn't meaning any disrespect, but Danny did fear that people would think Lindsay's pregnancy had been the reason behind their marriage. He wasn't ashamed of Lucy or how she came to be, but he knew how cruel people could be and he never wanted Lindsay or Lucy to be apart of that.

Tarah's face paled as realization dawned and she quickly stammered, "Oh, Danny I didn't mean anything by that. I was just jokin' ya know?"

"I know," Danny rushed to assure her, "Let's just say Lucy was a surprise but the best surprise my wife and I could ever hope for."

"Of course," Tarah assured him, "You know my mouth and brain aren't always linked up to good, and I say dumb things. I can tell by the look on your face when you talk about her that you really love and care for her."

"I do," Danny said seriously.

"And you said you have a daughter? Lucy?" Tarah asked, eager to cover her gaffe.

"That's right. She's three and just the silliest girl you'll ever meet. She's so smart and one of the funniest people I've ever known. She's goin' through this thing right now where she wants us to call her Princess Ariel, ya know, from _The Little Mermaid_. She wears this crown and tells us she's a visitor from the North Pole and that a sea witch is tryin' to steal her voice," Danny recounted, "It is the funniest thing when she pretends her voice is gone, and Lindsay and I are still tryin' to figure out why she's from the North Pole."

"Oh, that's too cute," Tarah agreed, "Do you mind if I meet them? Anyone who could snag you from bachelorhood has got to be one amazing woman."

"Sure," Danny enthused, "I would love for you to meet 'em. Lindsay really is amazing, but...I don't...I don't want it to be awkward."

"You mean 'cause you and I broke up?" Tarah asked.

Danny shrugged.

"Hey, water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned," Tarah assured him.

"Good," Danny said in a rush, "'cause I really want you to meet 'em. Lindsay is so wonderful. She's smart, brave, funny, adorable, and a fantastic mom. In fact, we are expectin' another baby in about a month, a little boy. She is so gentle and kind. I can't wait to see her with a newborn again. It is almost other worldly the way her face glows when she holds our baby for the first time. She's the reason I got outta that wheelchair. She was my motivation when it got too hard."

Tarah grinned at Danny's description. "On second thought, maybe I don't want to meet her. She sounds like she would give me a serious inferiority complex."

Before Danny could respond, a loud "Daddy!" was heard.

At the sound of his daughter, Danny turned away from Tarah to look for her. A second later he saw a blur of pink and purple come at him then wrap itself around his legs.

"Lucy," Danny cried as he scoop her up into his arms, he then looked for his wife whom he assumed would be right behind his daughter. He grew concerned when he didn't immediately see her.

A moment later he heard her frantic voice call out, "Lucy! Lucy where are you?" He then spotted her trying to weave her way through the people who were waiting to be seated; a process made more difficult by her large belly. He saw the panic on her face clearly and quickly called out, "I got'er Linds. She's with me."

He watched relief wash over her face then saw a fire in her eyes as she waddled towards them.

"Lucy Renee Messer," she scolded, "you know you are not suppose to run away from Mommy. You scared me to death. I warned you the last time that if you did it again there would be a punishment."

At the word punishment the toddler began to wail, "No!"

Lindsay was breathing hard from the exertion of her heavily pregnant body chasing Lucy and from the previous moments panic, "Yes. We are not going to the park today. We are going straight home and you are taking a nap."

"No! Park! I wanna go park!" she cried.

"I'm sorry," Lindsay continued, "You cannot keep running away from me. We are going home."

"No!" Lucy continued to sob, her face turning red as huge tears of disappointment rolled down her cheeks, "Daddy?" she tried and buried her face in his neck.

People were beginning to stare at them.

"Linds..." Danny began, but she cut him off.

"No, Danny. We discussed this and agreed the next time she ran away from one of us she would have to face the consequences. She really scared me Danny. I told her to wait for me while I washed my hands but she ran out the door when someone came into the bathroom. I tried to follow her but she was too fast. I couldn't find her, and there were so many people...and I...I called for her but...she...she wouldn't answer. I was so panicked...I think I might throw up," Lindsay's voice shook and he could tell she was close to tears thinking about the many horrible things that could've happened and then her hormones pushed her over the edge.

Danny shifted Lucy to one hip as she continued to cling to his neck crying, and then pulled Lindsay's body to his other side and angled her enough so she could bury her face on the other side of his neck. He wrapped his arm around her body and rested his hand against where their son lay, and he stood holding his two girls as they cried. He threw Tarah an apologetic look, and she politely stepped away.

"Linds, babe, ya gotta calm down or you really are gonna make yourself sick," Danny instructed, "I wasn't gonna argue with ya. Your right we did agree we needed to teach Lucy that she can't run away. I was just gonna suggest we step outside to talk about it."

Lindsay forced herself to take a few deep breathes and mumbled, "Sorry. It just scared me so badly when I couldn't find her and I'm just so tired and cranky and hot and swollen...I got overwhelmed."

Danny kissed her forehead and Lindsay closed her eyes and held tightly to him. Once she was sure she had gotten her emotions under control enough, she stepped away from him and rubbed Lucy's back. The little girls crying had shifted to sniffles and Danny saw his window.

"Hey, ah, Linds before we head out and Lucy realizes we really aren't goin' to the p-a-r-k and starts screamin' again, I want ya to meet somebody."

Lindsay threw him a surprised look but turned to where Danny had indicated with a tilt of his head.

Tarah took that as her cue and walked up to the family.

"Hi," she greeted cheerfully.

"Hi," Lindsay parroted with a slightly less cheerful tone; her cheeks pink with embarrassment.

Danny began the introductions, "Tarah, this is my wife Lindsay Messer. Linds this is my friend Tarah Kimball. We...ah...use to..."

"Go to high school together," Tarah jumped in. It was clear to her that bringing up her and Danny's romantic past was not what the young, stressed out mother needed to hear at the moment.

"Oh," Lindsay said softly, bringing a hand to stroke down imaginary fly-away hairs in an attempt to look less frazzled, "I'm so sorry. I doubt you were ready to have to witness my daughter's temper tantrum and my own meltdown." Lindsay lowered her eyes, trying to hide her humiliation.

"Don't worry about it, I can usually bust out a temper tantrum and a meltdown before I've even had my morning coffee," Tarah joked, trying to put her friend and former lover's wife at ease. It was clear that the woman was beautiful and carried pregnancy well.

Lindsay chuckled and offered her a genuine smile that immediately had the effect of brightening the mood. Tarah could see how easy it would be for Danny to be dazzled by it.

Tarah couldn't resist adding, "Plus you gotta put up with this guy all day. I can't imagine how stressful that gotta be."

Lindsay laughter grew at Danny's indignant, "Hey!"

"What?" Tarah shrugged innocently, "I only speak the truth Messer."

Danny just rolled his eyes but was delighted when Lindsay wrapped her arm around his waist and patted his belly and goaded, "Sounds like she really does know you Danny."

"And this must be Miss Lucy," Tarah cooed to the young child whose head was still laying against her father's shoulder but her little blue eyes were taking in the stranger that was speaking to her. Her face was still red from her fit and she had snot running from her nose but Tarah added, "She beautiful."

"Thank you," Lindsay beamed and glanced at her daughter. "Oh Danny," she cried, mortified, "wipe her nose please."

Danny reached up to take care of it with his hand but stopped himself when he realized Tarah was still watching. He glanced around for a napkin but his efforts were in vain when Lucy just wiped her nose on his shirt leaving a wet streak.

Danny groaned. This was not going how he had hoped.

"I betta get these girls home," he finally said, "but it was really good to run into you Tarah. Maybe we can have ya over for dinner or somethin' and get caught up and give you and Linds a chance to getta know each other."

Lindsay nodded eagerly. Lindsay wasn't stupid. She heard Danny's hesitation when he'd introduced them and knew there was more of a history between them then simply being old school mates but she liked the woman. "Yes, please, I would love to hear stories about Danny in high school."

Ignore his wife's comment Danny continued, "Plus you gotta meet Lucy when she isn't bawlin' her eyes out. I promise she really is a sweet little girl."

"I believe you," Tarah insisted, "And I would love to have dinner. I'll get your number from your ma."

"A'right. Listen, it was really great ta see ya again. Enjoy your lunch," Danny told her as he took Lindsay's hand into his.

"It was nice to meet you," Lindsay threw over her shoulder as her husband led her out of the restaurant.

"You too," Tarah called back and she meant it. She couldn't believe that Danny Messer had a family; a family he clearly adored, and who adored him. Tarah was eager to get to know the woman who had captured his heart and turned him into a loving husband and father. With a smile on her face she whipped out her cell phone to call her mom and tell her all about the new Danny Messer.

**Thanks for Reading!**


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